Trio honoured at Champions of Irish Motorsport awards

The late Craig Breen was also posthumously enrolled into the Motorsport Ireland Hall of Fame.

Wed, 06 Dec, 2023 - 20:01

Martin Walsh

Motorsport Ireland bestowed its most prestigious awards on Kilkenny’s Jack Brennan (19), Wexford’s Jack Byrne (20) and Down’s William Creighton (26) at its Champions of Irish Motorsport awards where the late Craig Breen was posthumously enrolled into the Hall of Fame.

The event at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Santry was a celebration of the sport and while many others were honoured during the ceremony, the focus was very much on the three principal awards.

Brennan from Mooncoin was presented with the Billy Coleman Young Rally Driver of the Year award and is the youngest ever driver to win this coveted award - a record previously held by the late Craig Breen, who won in 2009.

Campaigning a Renault Clio Rally5, Brennan won the Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series before switching to a Peugeot 208 Rally4 for the latter part of the season. He will receive €100,000 worth of support to contest rallies nationally and internationally in 2024 while a further €50,000 has been pledged by the Team Ireland Foundation for use in the 2025 season.

“It’s always been an ambition of mine to get a nomination for the award but to actually win it is unreal.” said Brennan.

“I’m now in the happy position of having to review my rally plans for 2024. I will discuss things with my team and the Motorsport Ireland Academy and take it from there.”

Cavan’s Craig Rahill and Leitrim’s Keelan Grogan were the runners up.

The Sexton Trophy for Young Racing Driver of the Year award went to Jack Byrne from Ballinaboola. He finished third in the competitive MINI Challenge UK Championship having graduated from winning all bar one of the twenty races in the Rookie category in 2022.

Byrne will also receive support to the value of €50,000 for next season. The runners-up were Antrim’s Brendan McCaughan and Wicklow’s Max Hart.

The Manley Memorial Trophy for the International Driver of the Year, as voted by the Irish motorsport media, went to FIA Junior World Champion William Creighton from Moira, Co. Down. Creighton became one of only a select number of Irish competitors to win an FIA Championship.

The late Craig Breen was posthumously enrolled into the Motorsport Ireland Hall of Fame, the attendance visibly moved by a video recording of the many great moments of his career.

Other recipients of awards were Christian Coby (9) from Kilcullen, who won the Neil Shanahan Memorial Trophy following his Motorsport Ireland National Cadet Karting Championship victory; the Ivan Webb Memorial Award for the Most Outstanding Contribution to Irish Motorsport was posthumously awarded to Mick Merrigan, who was remembered for his distinguished reputation as a competitor, team leader, mentor and organiser who played a leading role in introducing Formula Vee racing to Ireland.

The JC Millard Memorial Award for Clubman of the Year was presented to Galwegian Tommy Gardiner.

Speaking afterwards Motorsport Ireland President Aiden Harper said: “It was a privilege to enrol Craig (Breen) in the Hall of Fame, it’s the highest accolade we can bestow on anybody. It was a very special part of the day.

"Other special parts of the day were the up and coming people in all competitions, incredible talent from very young - the future of our sport.”

Reflecting on the late Rosemary Smith he added, “Yes, Rosemary was a great ambassador for our sport, at these awards she always sat at table one, in prime position.

"Unfortunately, she left us yesterday (Tuesday). She had so many achievements, she was a role model.”